Jim Street of mlb.com talked with Mariners catcher Josh Bard this week about the truck rollover that killed his close friend earlier this month and writes that Bard is struggling to cope with the aftermath of that tragedy. …

When reliever Mark Lowe was included in the Mariners’ trade package to Texas in the Cliff Lee deal in July, he was recovering from back surgery and considered more of a long-term piece of the puzzle. …

Tim Wedge and his wife, Nina, ventured west to Wichita this fall to see their son Ryan. They looped down through Oklahoma and Arkansas, visited friends in Missouri, then stopped to see relatives back in Evansville, Ind. …